Orion and the Dark shares plenty with movies for seven-year-olds: a childhood adventure with anthropomorphic creatures, simple but over-the-top dialogue, gorgeous animation, and lessons about overcoming fears. Though coming from Netflix (via Dreamworks) rather than Disney/Pixar, Orion and the Dark’s screenwriter boosted this children’s book adaptation into a surprisingly worthwhile selection for all ages. Bearing a wealth of recognizable voice actors and a script by Charlie Kaufman, this new film will sate all with a penchant for kid’s movies through its universal appeal.
‘Orion and the Dark’ Premise
Orion, terrified of everything in his elementary school life but most of all the dark, agrees to go around the world with Dark, the embodiment of Orion’s fears. This chipper entity hopes to cure Orion by showing him the beauty and magic of the night, but the kid proves to be a staunch devotee of his neuroticism.
‘Orion and the Dark’s Pixar-Evoking Aura
Perfectly cast as the characters Orion and Dark, Jacob Tremblay and a warmly gruff Paul Walter Hauser give their respective roles the proper respect for the youth-directed tone’s balance of ridiculousness and seriousness. A stand-out voice cast gives credibility to children’s films looking to double as an adult-appealing animated feature, and the thematic Pixar-style heaviness couples nicely with the experienced, dynamic actors injecting humor and heart into their lines. It still has to be easy enough for anyone a few years out from double-digits to understand, but Orion and the Dark often uplifts the experience through the lens of its limitations.
Like its competitors, Dreamworks often gets enough well-known actors to generate adult attention (Angela Bassett, Natasia Demetriou, and Nat Faxon get memorable moments as the Inside Out-reminiscent Sweet Dreams, Sleep, and Insomnia), but as animation fans know, the script and visuals can wildly change the film’s favorability, even with a great cast. In his feature-length directorial debut, Sean Charmatz delivers on high expectations with bright colors and briskly edited sequences offsetting the dark subject of fear. Like Dark proclaims early on, “Beauty is in the contrast.”
Charlie Kaufman Speaks to the Existentialism of All
The classic animation approach of a talking creature and a human child makes Orion and the Dark part of an iconic but familiar storytelling tradition, but Kaufman’s presence instantly adds an entirely new layer that will draw most of the film’s adult audience.
His star-making scripts for Being John Malkovich, Adaptation., and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind cemented his legacy as a voice for the archetypal neurotic central character, and his lesser three directorial features also honed his signature traits. Picking up on the similarities between Orion and the Dark and Kaufman’s work, he wrote the script without directorial involvement for the first time in 20 years.
Still from ‘Orion and the Dark’ / Netflix
References to existential crises, realistic yet creative ways we deal with fears, and the occasional drift into scariness and adult humor indicate a heavily toned down but still aware Kaufman script for Orion and the Dark. Enough extra details and new narrative structures enhance his first kid’s film into fresh work, even if Pixar’s Inside Out and Soul easily beat this for originality. It fits into Kaufman’s oeuvre the least of almost any of his other works, but it surpasses his recent adaptation I’m Thinking of Ending Things thanks to its clarity in using deeper themes.
How Does Kaufman’s Writing Read for Children?
Just because the idea behind a film works on paper does not mean the final product also works. Luckily, Orion and the Dark bodes well for the targeted audiences, perhaps more so than for adults, despite the potentially scary content. Matching its Y7 rating, Orion and the Dark speaks through easy-to-understand messages that validate fears as something everyone experiences, with an ending showcasing courage in the face of fear instead of pretending they do not exist.
Though dedicated viewers of the best Disney, Pixar, and Studio Ghibli movies have heard it all before, Orion and the Dark‘s original story and existential presentation make up for an ultimately simplistic emotional framework. The familiar elements might not bring many to tears, but it stands above the other new films directed at this age group. In the face of adult entertainment, this is smart, solid filmmaking on every level. Compared to recent options like the tonally awkward Adam Sandler-led Leo, Orion and the Dark is downright brilliant.
Orion and the Dark is streaming now on Netflix.
